Bengough

Town, pop 401, located on Highway 34, just north of the Big Muddy Valley and badlands. These sub-marginal tracts are primarily suited for Ranching, and lands formerly utilized for crop production have been returned to grazing pasture. Land nearer the town itself supports mixed farming as well as ranching operations. wheat, durum, barley, and oats are the main crops; lentils and peas are increasingly grown. The Bengough district was originally settled between 1905 and 1913. The Drought years of the 1930s hit Bengough hard, but after World War II the community witnessed an unprecedented period of prosperity. By the mid-1960s, 700 people called the town home. Today Bengough, the “Gateway to the Big Muddy,” has an RCMP detachment, a health centre and special care home, a volunteer fire department, and a K–12 school. Each year the town hosts amateur and professional rodeos, a horse show, and a summer fair. Recently, Bengough and district schoolchildren accompanied palaeontologists from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum into the Big Muddy Valley to uncover the remains of a 55-million-year-old crocodile. The rare fossil is one of only a few known to exist in the world.

David McLennan